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Sweet, but too weak
This show started brightly, but started to run out of steam by the halfway mark. The interactions between the leads were sweet, but in the end too anemic and often to frequently interrupted. The school section of the show was too long, and the university section felt like the high school section minus uniforms. Throw in the fact that the "social phobic" ML was still comfortable being borderline patronising and controlling at times, and I realised by the end of episodes 21 that I couldn't drink any more of its insipid brewWas this review helpful to you?
Unromantically Good.
I gave this 9/10 for the sheer intelligence and thoughtfulness of the dialogue that dominated the first two thirds of the drama. It had a lot to say about the role of women of all ages in modern society and the way in which their own perception of their roles often conflicts with what traditional society expects.In that dialogue, and in the female lead character I was reminded strongly of the second female lead from another drama by the same writer "The Tale of Rose". She too was driven, independent, work focused and I found her dialogue as here almost always impeccably well reasoned.
However, the difference between these two dramas is that the second female lead in “Rose" was also part of a truly moving romantic arc. The development of the love story between her and the lead characters brother had a lot of emotion, and always carried the sense that they were two people in a romantic relationship. That sense was missing almost entirely from this drama. The lead pair did develop strong supportive relationship, but in terms of romance, the best that could be said was that we saw them build a friendship from which romance COULD at some future point grow.
It was a noona-donsaeng ('jia-didi'?) romance apparently but the noona and dongsaeng spent a comparatively little time together and more than 90% of the time they did spend together was exclusively work-related with zero emotional content. Even in the final four episodes, there was no overriding sense that one was watching a romance. The success of the romance in “Rose" proves that the screenwriter can do better, so I'm going to applaud the content she delivered exceptionally well, and check out the Taiwanese original to see whether the constraint of adapting someone else's material had any impact on this Chinese remake.
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Flawed, irritating at times, but worthwhile
This Drama had a lot of really good points to it. I had been waiting for it for more than a year, after seeing Zhou Yu Tong's great performance in Begin Again, and it did not disappoint. Her performance her as a very realistic character was impressive. As someone with a congenital disability, I enjoyed watching her character's arc from that perspective. It was also great that there was no trace of maudlin sympathy for her or excusing/grlorifying her personality flaws because of a 'she's disabled, let her off' kind of approach.That lack of maudlin sympathy though was taken to extremes in the many scenes related to death and mourning. The "we're all gonna die, suck it up don't cry" mantra was megaphoned too often for my tastes. Others have accused the writer of doing a sloppy job, and that may be true, but having seen the dead hand (ha!) of SARFT at work for a decade now, my first reaction to such unsubtle preaching is to suspect state-mandate.
The other thing I really, REALLY hated were the constant references to the virtue of being fair-skinned. In a Drama that kept preaching against prejudice, to hear many characters- including the FL - repeatedly spouting THIS prejudice was really irksome
Despite that, there was a lot of very real and relatable human emotion on display. The leads were very flawed and complicated and that was great, as was the delivery of those characters by both leads - they totally nailed it. The show also surprised me with its repeated messages about gender equality - chauvinist misogyny is the norm in moden C Dramas, so this was very refreshing. I was REALLY surprised at what seemed to be a VERY clear "I'm gay" moment for one character. Given the crackdown on BL Dramas either SARFT missed it or they decided to let it pass.
I absolutely LOVED Wan Peng's role as the FL's BFF and the young actor playing her little sister was superb. Given the realistically open ending, the more extreme ending that was teased at the beginning of the final episode would not have been out of place either.
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Not awful, but...
This was not what I expected. SO MANY reviews, and one of the tags, said "comedy" - This was a funny as DIY dentistry. THe base story was fine, and it was quite well told in 6 episodes, but a comedy it was not. OTOH, it was lovely to see Han Ji Hye back on screen. I hope this was her way of easing back into acting now her child is bit older. I actually started for this for Bae Da Bin, but her role was disappointing – for a former Marine, she was portrayed as pretty much weak and useless. Also, I was hoping to her speak English as she did in her last Drama, but no such luck with this oneWas this review helpful to you?
A triumph of love over hate
In this case, my utter HATRED of the "kindergarten kismet" trope. When I saw that this Drama was built on exactly that trope, I assumed I would hate the Drama. But, it triumphed, and I loved it.What I loved was that it played with the trope, mocking it, analysing it, and teasing the viewer until the final episode as to whether the trope would come true. The side couple were well done, the bar owner's arc especially lending some real emotional warmth and depth to the light frothy sweetness of the main storyline.
Another big plus was the short length. Four hours total runtime was just right, no angst or pathos padding out a longer series.
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Mikaiketsu no Onna: Keishichou Bunsho Sousakan
2 people found this review helpful
SUB THE SP PLEASE!
This was another delightful Japanese Drama built around strong, interesting female characters. The two female leds were the closest thing the Drama had to an OTP, and their interactions and the ensuing mutual growth of respect and affection was the heart of the show.The Drama was not without flaws, one of which were the slightly caricatured male bosses. It may be a Japanese humour style, but I've noticed this slightly OTT shouty male incompetence in other Dramas were the sympathetic protagonists are female. The writing and performance of the two female leads in this Drama were strong enough to stand on their own, without making the male boss slightly buffoonish. He could still have been shown as less competent and more interested in politicking without the shouty histrionics.
Overall, though, that was minor niggle. Haru delivered a great role as a rookie growing into a new style of detective work after an injury, and the deep bond that formed between her character and Suzuki Kyoka's made sure that by the end of the eighth and final episode the biggest and most annoying flaw was
THERE ARE NO SUBS FOR THE SP! Waaaaah!
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The story is nothing earth-shaking, but I was impressed with Do Hee's performance as THOROUGHLY unlikeable character. Selfish and UTTERLY self-absorbed, her character also showed zero growth in terms of maturing and getting half a brain until basically the penultimate episode. She treated her mother despicably, consistently so, and even managed to provoke her somewhat implausibly tolerant boyfriend to rage by her thoughtless self-absorption. That's why I was impressed with Do Hee's performance. In the first 12-5-12 episodes, there's really not one thing about her character that evokes sympathetic approval. She's just a whiny, self-obsessed spoiled kid who truly has no idea about the real world or how incredibly easy she has it. And Do Hee nailed it, well done.
Happily, there WAS a character to like and root for, and that was Jin Ye Ju's Ha Rim, the BFF of Do Hee's character. Ha Rim was sharp, cynical, insightful, and clear-eyed, and a perfect foil to Do Hee's Da Mi. She made the show fun, even when Do Hee's great portrayal of a selfish slob was so good as to be vexing.
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The core storyline had potential but the execution was a muddled mess. Nothing of real import to the core plot happened until partway through episode 7 of 9, by which point resistance WAS futile :)
I stayed for some ofg the characters, especially Akitsu and his wife and daughter. His compliance office colleague seemed implausibly naive and fragile for such a role. Which was a major disappointment, as Hirose Alice was the reason I started the Drama. Overall, an unsatisfying experience, except for the delightful Akitsu family
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This review may contain spoilers
SPOILERS: DO NOT READ IF YOU WANT TO WATCH"Wonderfully Sweet and Entertaining" - that was how one blogger described this Drama, and it puzzled me. It STARTED that way, but by about 1/4 of the way through, the body count started to climb, and the deaths, most depicted with languid lingering attention to gory detail, kept on coming. Basically EVERYBODY dies, except the OTP, and apparently THAT makes it a "wonderfuly sweet and entertaining" romance? I started this for Ms Kim, whose work I've enjoyed for 6 years now, but the surfeit of savagery in this sageuk meant I had to bail out after making it to half way.
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A real romance, NOT a romcom
In my personal Drama database, I scored this 10.5/10Thie idea of a "sequel" to the fairytale ending was very well executed. It was a painful watch for the first 5 episodes, especially Liu Yi Hao's slob character and his craven capiulation to his domineering Mum.
Then the character growth kicked in. Having watched hundreds of KDrama it was a bizarre and unsettling novelty to see characters USE THEIR WORDS and actually explain how they felt and how that affected their actions. Misunderstandings are resolved, differences explained and accepted, lots of growth all round.
The two leads SMASHED IT. I have long esteemed Ko Chia Yen as an actor but this Drama raised my opinion of Liu Yi Hao too. They were given great material and delivered it superbly. Also, extra points for something VERY seldom seen: THe Scooby Doo ending is relatively common, but the "Piña Colada" ending is rare. It was a perfect fit for this Drama and I'm chuffed that I guessed it in ep 1. (You have to be really old to get that reference) .
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Lots to like, but...
This Drama surprised me. It was a blast from the past, nothing but trope after trope, with clichés thrown in to break up the tropes. BUT, it worked - mostly.WHAT I LIKED
1. Self-awareness. THe show KNEW it was a tropefest and embraced it, inviting the audience to laugh at its rehashing ALL the tropes. Couple shirts?! It worked because the show knew it was silly and was inviting laughter.
2. Kim Young Ok. This amazing actor just makes EVERYTHING she's in better, and the writer here was smart enough to give her lines that fit her dual persona as hallowed halmeoni and spunky gran perfectly. She was a HUGE part of the reason I stuck it out, as was
3. Ahn Se Ha. The one role that wasn't a trope - no BoF, Heirs type Drama that I've seen had such an irreverent Sancho Panza character, and Ahn's delivery was perfect. Very refreshing, especially in the first half.
4. OTP chemistry. I'm not so much out of the loop on who's dating whom in K Ent as out of the entire galaxy the loop is in, but if these two are a real couple, it would explain a lot. A by-the-numbers romcom like this literally lives or dies by the OTP chemistry, and these two sold it really well, INCLUDING
5. The first kiss scene - HUGE bonus points for this scene, one of VERY few in K Dramas where The kisser ASKED FOR PERMISSION. That is both romantic and sexy and swayed me heavily in favour of not dropping
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE
1. The clichéd mushiness of the evil half-sister at the very end. Keep those cojones, sistah!
2. The show was too long
3. The show was way too long.
4. The show was ridiculously way too long
5. The show was irritatingly ridiculously way too long
6. The show was unbelievably irritatingly ridiculously way too long
In the end, I gave it 7.5 because of everything it did right. It would have got 8.5-9 if it had been 12 60 minute episodes instead of 16 70 minute episodes
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Meh-diocre and predictable
I started this for only one reason, Wang Ji Won, and I finished it for her. Sadly, her role was utterly pointless - made to be kinda sorta a villain but in reality an irrelevance. Her role was so small it could have been excised, especially as it went nowhere. Which is a nice summary of the show as a whole Han Go Eun has been a favourite since Capital Scandal, but even she was stuck with a clichéd character here.The only good thing about watching this right through is that I can once again say that I have seen literally everything Wang Ji Won has done, and that her acting fee for this show would have helped finance her real passion, the ballet academy she owns and runs
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For the first 25 episodes I raged against the FL's unbelievably selfish son, who did whatever he wanted whenever he wanted with no regard for anyone else and NEVER apologised for any harm his actions caused. It made me think of "little emperor syndrome" What made it worse was realising he learned that behaviour from his mother's own view of herself
In the course of 57 episodes she apologised exactly ZERO times for all the times she flagrantly exploited the male lead - even before they were together. She was an adult version of her spoiled sprog, utterly self-absorbed, HER immediate wants and needs the only thing that mattered. Even in the final 10 episodes, she was prepared to break promises she made to the FL whenever she felt she knew better AND then expect him to apologise to her for daring to get upset about it.
I stuck it out hoping for character growth, but the Drama's version of "character growth" was "she's always right, he has to say sorry", a pattern that was literally carried into some of the very last scenes of the very last episode. While I can count on the thumbs of one foot how many times she apologised to him, she made him apologise countless times for failing to realise that he should always tolerate everything she did.
In the interests of fairness, I have to admit that leads like this are common in Dramas, but the "spoiled child" lead is normally a sulky chaebol boy brat, not a newly-divorced single Mum. I dislike male leads who act this way every bit as much as I disliked this female lead. Whiny, self-absorbed "aegyo" from adults is NOT cute or endearing, regardless of gender. Ms Wang did a fine job of making me dislike her character, so kudos for her acting. The love story of the FL's BFF was cute and engaging, and one more reason why I made it to the very end of this stupidly overlong wasted opportunity.
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